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January 04 More on the Scum that is Columbia HouseWay back in October of 2005 I printed a rant against Columbia House Music Club. My underlying message NEVER – NEVER get involved in Columbia House. They are crooked, and you won’t get the advertised savings after you fulfill their commitment. If you are interested you can see that posting at:
A week ago, I got a message through Windows Spaces from someone named Taeko. They must have been doing a search on Columbia House because they were being screwed over also. Here is the text of the message I received:
“can you please help me with nasty columbia house scum? I have purchased the 5 DVDs each for 49 cents once. but I NEVER became a member and I left it as it is after I paid off whatever the cost it was for 5 DVDs. Two months later they sent me a DVD that I never purchased and they charged my visa for it about 37.21. the thing is right after I received the unwanted DVD, I checked my credit card history and found out that they charged me once before the DVD I received. Funny thing is that I never receieved anything for the first charge of 37.21. Second fee I received Harry Potter director's choice DVD and also Invoice of another 37.21. So I took an action calling them but never picked up my call. It is automated voice service telling me to call these few numbers that were also automated voice service. I was so pissed off I sent e-mails saying I need explainations. I never became or signed for a membership, but somehow I was the one. and I have no idea what was the comittment when I purchased 5 DVDs each for 49 cents. Also I did not record my user nameor password that I cannot see my status or anything. I am really worried that it might continue and I at least want to see the term of comittment or something like that. I really do not know when or how I became a member. Can you help me?”
I tried to message Taeko back, but their profile doesn’t allow that type of communication. So I am going to post my thoughts below, in hopes they (or others) might read it, learn from it and NEVER – NEVER get involved with Columbia House.
My response to Taeko:
“The lesson to take away from this is NEVER give your credit card to any company where they can charge for services without your signature. I have only done this for two companies, both of which I know and trust and where the charge is the same each month.
Unfortunately Columbia House uses a "negative option" marketing practice, which means unless you say no, they send and bill you. When I dealt with Columbia House I always made sure they had to bill me and I would have to pay them.
The first thing you can do is contact your credit card company and tell them to NOT accept any charges to your card from Columbia House. If nothing else that will get Columbia House's Attention, especially if they have sent you product and are looking for payment.
Second - call the 1-800 customer service number for Columbia House. There should be one on the statements or shipping receipts you got. If it sounds totally automated, try press the "0" button. Most IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems will route you to a live operator. Unless the company is truly scummy and doesn’t want you to talk to an agent – or they are Bell Canada and just want to make it really difficult to contact them.
Third, if you get a live operator tell them in no uncertain terms that you do not want their service and you WILL NOT accept anything more from them. Since I do not know the details of the offer you signed up for, you may be trapped because of accepting the 5 DVDs for 49 cents. It has been a long time since I dealt with Columbia house, but usually these offers are a set up for a minimum commitment. Be insistent that you don't want service and be willing to get belligerent with them. You will have to be very tough and firm to get out of this. I do not believe they will make it easy for you, but the louder and harder you scream the less likely they are to fight. Most companies don’t want to spend money on vigorous complainers, since there are many more suckers out there to be bilked of their money.
Fourth, if you don't get a live body, then send emails, regular mail and keep sending and keeping copies for your records. Start building a paper trail that shows you made every effort to stop the shipments and cancel the agreement. This will be important if you are successful in stopping payment and Columbia House tries to play nasty with your credit rating (and I wouldn’t put it past them).
And finally, if you get any more packages from Columbia House do not open them, simply mark return to sender and put them immediately back into the mail. Their policy use to be to accept these back and not charge you. I know because I missed refusing a few monthly mailings, and had to return the stuff I didn't stop. There was never a problem (but again, they didn't have my credit card info.). Your challenge might be that since I went on my rant, they have started trying to charge shipping for orders received. Pretty bad customer service – ship something I didn’t ask for and then charge me shipping if I try to return it. See why I say don’t deal with this company.
Good luck with this. These guys make their money from being hard to deal with and tricking the consumer. You will have to be hard nosed and ruthless in order to beat this scum of the earth company. September 06 The "F" WordI was at a BBQ this past weekend and one of the guests was using the “F” word in an excessive manner. I’m sure they used it as a verb, noun and adjective, sometimes in the same sentence. Unfortunately, the more alcohol consumed the more the word got used.
I found this very offensive and was put off by it. I didn’t say anything at the time since it isn’t really a big deal and with alcohol being consumed you never know how a comment about the use of the word will be taken. But it did get me thinking about how that offensive and vulgar word is so prevalent.
I hear the word being used around the gym, in stores and often by young people who may be trying to establish a presence or demonstrate their independence and “coolness”. But every time I hear someone use the word I can’t help but think “Do you really know how ugly that sounds?” Or, “are you so stupid that you can’t find a more intelligent way to express yourself?”
That is one of the biggest things that strikes me when I hear people use the “F” word. It really demonstrates how unintelligent they are.
I am not a saint in this regard. There was a time in my life when this word was an integral part of my vocabulary. When I played hockey and football with “the guys”, it was common. My formative years were spent around my dad’s truck distributorship where every second word out of the mouths of the parts guys and mechanics was the “F” word. So it became “normal” to use it. Doesn’t make it right, but it was common place for the groups I hung around.
As I began attending university I realized just how limiting the word is and how stupid it sounds coming out of someone’s month. I made a conscience decision to purge it from my vocabulary. I have not been totally successful and still at times find myself muttering it, or using it when I really want to illustrate my frustration or anger. I guess that makes me human – dog gone it!
The point I want to make is this. If you use the “F” word, really think about why you use it and how stupid it makes you sound. And if you can’t find a more intelligent way to express yourself, then you need to do some work on your communication skills, or shut up!
August 16 "Because I said so"Every Tuesday in North Bay the price of gas at the pump goes up. I’ve been watching the trend and sure enough sometime Tuesday the price at the pump will jump anywhere from 5¢ to 9¢ a litre. The good news is that during the week that price will creep down.
Over the last few weeks the trend has been more down than up, but the price is still way too high. But that is not the point of this posting.
As regularly as the price goes up, the radio station runs a news story about the gas companies and their pricing policy. Often they will have the media representative (corporate talking head) giving a sound bite. One time I heard this person calmly saying “oh, there is no pattern to the price changes, it is totally random and market driven”. Yeah right, just how stupid do they really think the general public is?
This got me thinking about the role of a corporate talking head and I wonder how these people do that job. Their role is to put a positive spin on news about their organization. In some cases they appear to bold face lie in attempt to protect an executives reputation or their brand image.
I have sold my soul to the corporate devil (and am miserable because of it), but these people sell so much more. They sell their integrity, their credibility and, in my opinion, their dignity! I have to question the morals of these people who would put themselves in the public spotlight to protect an organization that is killing the environment, screwing the buying public, ripping off investors &/or the public purse or putting the general public in grave danger with products that are unhealthy or unsafe.
I think in particular of those talking heads for tobacco companies, pharmaceutical, or chemical companies. Political spin doctors are an entirely different kind of bottom dweller. They will out right deny scientific evidence or spin it in such a contrived manner that their arguments make no sense at all. And yet they appear so confident in their position that you almost believe they honestly believe what they are saying. Damn I wish I could act that well on stage!
I wonder how these people live with themselves, look in the mirror and say “yes, I’m doing something that is socially good and is contributing to the well being of society”. I sure hope they are paid well because it could only be human greed that would motivate someone to corrupt themselves so grossly.
Wow, I haven’t ranted for a while and it actually feels good!! I’ll have to do it more. Unfortunately my greatest rant would be career limiting, so I’ll have to keep that one to myself. June 18 Oh no I really enjoy pain!Ah the joys of house hunting! You might as well let a dentist take out your wisdom teeth without any freezing!
The challenge faced is how hot the market in North Bay is right now. That combined with crazy schedules which do not allow time to look at houses and a desire to move quickly (at least from two Staceys in my life).
Now that one needs an explanation! My lovely Stacey, my fiancé, is excited to be house shopping and that is making it fun for me. But she wants something now. And I do not mean right now I MEAN RIGHT NOW!
The other Stacey is my renter’s daughter. Her and her husband are very interested in buying my place and she is anxious for decisions to be made so they know what they are doing for living arrangements.
HOWEVER, houses of any quality that are clean and liveable are moving quickly in this market and it is a seller’s market. We found one listing on MLS yesterday that wasn’t there on Friday and was sold today! The houses that have been on MLS listing for awhile are there because there is something significantly wrong with it!
So right now we’ve got a list of seven houses that look good. I’m going to take Thursday off work and we’ll go house hunting. If past experience is any indication, we’ll have to look at plenty of crap before uncovering the gem we are looking for.
But then once we find a house more fun and games start. The legal profession has carved themselves a nice little niche market and made the process of buying and selling so complicated that you have to use them to close the deal. The bonus for them – they get to charge exorbitant amounts of money to push paper around. I wish I could say I felt they added value to the process but I do not see it.
Oh, and then in Ontario you have highway robbers who parade around as the Provincial Government, who demand a land transfer tax on every house sale. This will amount to several thousand (yes, I said several and thousands!) dollars. For this fee I can see NO ADDED VALUE what so ever. Just a freaking money grab by the province.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to find a house that Stacey and I can make our home. I’m looking to upgrade in terms of size and features. I just need to work through the frustration of finding and purchasing the house in order to get to the excitement.
At least Stacey and I will be doing this together. That makes it a lot of fun.
I’ll keep you posted on what we find on Thursday. April 23 I'm finally dumping BellThe smallest things can bring me such great pleasure!
On May 8th I will be rid of Bell Canada as an immediate service provider for all services. After suffering through two years of satellite TV service, I’m going back to cable. My local home phone, my internet and my long distance are all with the company I work for.
I will no longer get a statement from Bell, I will not have to deal with call centres in India, being put on hold indefinitely and feeling like you only really matter to them when they are trying to sell something.
It is a hollow victory of sorts, since Bell Canada does own the “last mile” as we in the Telco world call it. That is the copper wire pair that runs into your house which delivers your local phone service and (if you use DSL) internet. The company I work for is reselling the Bell Services, so Bell is still getting some revenue from me. It just happens to be flowing through a “middleman”.
There are a number of reasons why I dislike Bell so much. One of them is the shear size of the company and their ruthless desire to wipe out any competition which tries to do business in their territory. Yeah I know that is the “free market” system. But I’ve worked on the inside, along side and against Bell Canada and I can tell you they are viscous competitors.
That company does not want to simply be the largest supplier of telecom services in Canada, they want to be the ONLY supplier of telecom service in Canada.
Bell comes up with winback offers that are extremely attractive and designed solely to take hard fought (and costly) customers away from their competitors.
I do not have any illusion that Rogers, Shaw or TELUS are any better. They are all bastards to deal with. Its just Bell Canada is the worst of the bunch.
Another reason I dislike Bell is the way they treat customers after they lock them into a contract. Have you ever tried to get through to a call centre agent or help technician? I hope you have lots of time on your hands.
Oh, and then there is “EMILY”. That most annoying automated voice response call centre agent. Who ever decided to implement EMILY should be drawn and quartered. That is the most impersonal, useless piece of crap technology I’ve ever had to deal with. AND the only reason they implement EMILY is because they fired so many humans so their long line of over paid CEOs could make their obscene salaries and bonuses.
“Hey Bell how about showing some real customer concern and actually have people, who I can understand deal with me!”
Crap, I better shut this down before I say something that the lawyers may call slanderous  . But it sure is fun to vent, and even more fun to think about not having to deal with Bell any more!December 22 Just got to hate them!I do not like big business! They suck the life out of people, the suck the dollars out of families, they feed those dollars to already too rich executives and “investors” who are in pursuit of one thing – their own wealth, with no concern about the little guy.
One of my favourite targets to dislike is Bell Canada. This organization is not only arrogant, but they have an attitude about their customers that we are simply objects to be milked. Try and compete against Bell and you will be wiped out!
So it was with a mix of cynical humour and outright disdain that I read a letter they sent out this week. It was a brief 3 paragraph letter announcing a rate increase in my satellite TV service.
“At Bell, we appreciate your business and thank you for choose ExpressVu,…..” OK, that’s the first sign that you are about to get screwed!
Second paragraph – announces that “To continue to offering the best in TV programming….” WHAT – do I have stupid written on my forehead!!!??? No, it’s to inflate your already obscene revenue numbers. In a quick search I can only find numbers for BCE the parent company of Bell Canada. For Q3 2006 (that is only three months July, August and September) their revenues were $4,422,000,000 – read that as Billions! Their EBITDA (Earning before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortization – that’s profit before the funky “Enron” stuff accountants do to make the profit picture look the way the Board of Directors want it to look) was $1.8 Billion Dollars. For a true visual you have to add 8 0s to that number!
So after realizing just how much Bell Canada makes they are increasing my service charges by 15%. My salary certainly has not gone up by 15% this year! And to make matters worse, the way they bundle the services, I have to subscribe to a lot of crap I never watch in order to get the basic digital channels I watch.
In business we call that getting more of the consumer’s wallet share. Put another way, how can we screw more dollars out of the consumer.
At least in paragraph 3 they give me a 1-800 number to call if I have any questions about their continuing service. Oh, no but wait – that call will likely end up in India, because that is where Bell has outsourced Canadian jobs, to reduce their costs so they can add to their bottom line and the senior executives can pat themselves on the back and take the obscene bonuses they grant themselves.
And Bell (and Telus) must have the Conservative government in their back pocket because our wonderful “Big Business” friendly government recently over-ruled the CRTC and are planning to give the incumbent TELCOs freedom from regulations on local telephone service. The cable companies are crying foul, but I guess they must of backed the Liberals and are now paying for that sin! But it is not like those companies are suffering either.
What does that mean to local telephone subscribers – less competition, because these behemoths will be able to crush any new comer (the economics and technology of local phone service is in their favour) and then they will be able to raise their rates as they see fit, without the CRTC being able to oversee or make sure those rates are justified.
Some people are saying this will lead to increased competition and lower rates. Don’t believe the spin spewed by the Telcos. In a recent security analyst call Bell Canada announced that they have plans to raise all of their rates. Residential local, business local will all take big jumps. And if you are Sympatico Internet subscriber – they are planning to start charging for each kilobyte of data you transfer through the net! Right now the monthly subscriber fee paid allows user to get unlimited data transfer (every webpage you visit, every email you send or recieve, or every video you watch or download adds to the amount of data your transfer through the internet each month). Bell Canada wants to meter that and charge for every bite that goes through.
For people like me who don’t download music or videos, this might not be an issue, but for gamers, music and video junkies – watch out my friends – your consumer wallet will be a lot lighter as the Big Bad Bell sucks more share out of it! I'm betting that will result in increase in monthly charge for all of us.
It's funny becuase years ago when I first started working in telecom (for AGT - the predicessor of TELUS) they were looking at metered service for local calling (you would pay for each minute of local calling like long distance), but they realized the culture of calling would result in too much backlash from the consumer so they shelved the idea. I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't come up again!
And don’t get me started on how the cellular companies are screwing the consumer – that is another rant all by itself!
So to Bell Canada – when I get screwed I at least like to enjoy it! So please take your condescending letter and shove it up Michael Sabia’s a….oh, wait, I am trying to keep this as a family friendly blog. November 24 Yeah, its started!So I was watching some television this evening – that mindless distraction we lovingly call entertainment, and there were two things on it that made stop, in sadness, and think “Oh my God, what is our society becoming?”
The first were the huge influx of Christmas retail ads, which always start right after the US Thanksgiving weekend. Many were for retail outlets that I’ve never heard of, which makes me wonder if they are putting all of their advertising $$$$ at this time of the year in hopes of salvaging their miserable business. Mind you I was watching a US network and there was no simulcast tonight.
But it would appear that the excess and gluttony of consumerism, which Christmas has become is once again upon us.
If you listen to the advertisers and retailers all you need to have someone love you is to buy them the perfect gift for Christmas -- which is at their store and they will finance for you to boot! Or, putting it in a more evil light, if you don't by them "X" they will not love you!
Give me a break. You can not show someone you love them with gifts. The only way you can show someone you love them is by being with them, engaging them in conversation, being with them in the moment, listening to them, holding them, comforting them. Not buying something for them!
The second disturbing element was the number of ads for prescription drugs, which the consumer is implored to “Ask your doctor about……”. Our society has become so fixated on a quick fix to our ills and the drug companies play to that in a grotesque manner. If I were a doctor I would be so fed up with drug companies telling my patients to ask me about this or that drug. It is the doctor’s job to interpret all of the symptoms and identify the cause. Not some hypochondriac sitting at home listening to the idiot box like it was “The Gospel”.
But we all know there is huge money to sucked out of the consumer through drugs – and many do alleviate pain, suffering and do wonders. For me it is just the quick fix mentality and “you aren’t good enough without this product” crap that advertisers spew at us that upset me.
The saddest comment is that the advertising works! Which just tells me we live in a society of people who can not, will not, or don’t want to think, but just take a pill to make it all better. And the way the multi-billion dollar drug companies pander to that weakness demonstrates a corporate greed that is unmatched in our society today.
I better put my soap box away before I need one of those high blood pressure pills. October 05 Cursed Computers!Computers can be wonderful things – when they work! But have trouble and they can become a curse!
I’ve had a couple of experiences lately that are driving me nuts. At work the hard drive began to die on my lap top. Fortunately we have a wonderful young fellow, in our IT department, who really knows his stuff. He quickly identified the problem (before it became critical), so I was able to get my programs copied to our network drives before he swapped my laptop. He did his best to set it up exactly like I had it before.
But there were still things that changed. For example – the toolbars on all of my applications had to be reset and while not a big deal, it is still a pain to try to get it back to the way I like it. I was also doing a data networking course on my computer and the file that tracks my progress was not installed in the program file, but in some obscure directory in another part of the computer – I lost it and now have to redo the entire course. Not a big deal, since the review will be good for me ;).
Then this week I decided to do a simple thing of adding a “visitor” profile to my computer, so when my daughter and cousin are here this weekend, they can surf and use the net and not have access to my files and profile settings.
That was my first mistake! For some reason after I set up the new profiles, which required me to set up a new “Administrator” profile, the system decided it would hide the original administrator profile. At the moment when I couldn’t find the “Administrator” Profile and then I couldn’t get access to the “Administrator” folder on the C drive, I thought I had lost all of all my personal files and photos. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach was terrible. All because Microsoft was telling me I didn’t have authority to access a folder on my computer!
So I took my PC into work and had that wonderful young man look at it. He fixed it and was able to quickly get my original profile back. But for some reason Microsoft began telling me that I had a “counterfeit” version of XP (that’s crap because I bought that with the computer) and my desktop is all mixed up, things are missing and I can’t surf to any “Secure” sites, I can’t launch MSN Messenger, my global templates on Word, PowerPoint and Excel have all changed and my email is not working.
So back to the office with the PC and fortunately my good friend at work was able to fix things up. It will cost me a dozen Heineken Beer, but it is worth it!
Lesson learned – since there is nothing on my files that I’m embarrassed with, why did I feel the need to set up new profiles? I should have left things like they were!
Crap I hate computers! Or maybe its I hate not knowing what is going on with them. What ever! October 02 What is going on?It is with a heavy heart that I write tonight. So much pain, so much hatred and so many innocent young girls seem to be targeted by whacked out males.
I do not understand the anger that drives men to the crimes like we have seen at Dawson College, Colorado and now in the small Amish school in Pennsylvania. I have never felt this kind of anger and thus don’t understand what would drive a man to line up innocent female children and then kill them execution style.
There is something definitely wrong with the underlying fabric of our society that is making unbalanced males feel the need to exert their strength and vent their rage in these horrific ways.
If you still believe that Hollywood violence, or violent video games, or the World Wrestling Federation does not have small part to play in the moral degradation of society then you need to you see a shrink, cause you are living in a fantasy world.
We are on the a slippery slope of “creeping acceptance” of everything immoral and violent. There was another US politician caught with his fingers in the sexual perversion cookie jar. What’s even worse, if the reports turn out to be true, is that party handlers knew of the situation and turned a blind eye to it. Now the fellow is trying to explain it away because he has a drinking problem. He has more than a drinking problem!
And the saddest part of the moral decay is that the people driving it are making huge profits, while all the time throwing their hands in the air saying “We are only a reflection of society”, or “we are giving the public what they want”. How trite and easy to shift blame, while you reap millions of dollars. I guess having morals and values is not important to this scum of the earth.
Enough said – I’m just to sicken to continue…… July 12 More things to worry aboutI’ve said on many occasions that if some people put as much time and energy into thinking of ways to improve this world, then we would be a much better place. But as the saying goes “There is a sucker born every minute – and two to take advantage of him”.
Well here are two more things to be watching for as you surf the internet!
Zango
Apparently videos you watch on a friend's profile (MSN Spaces / MySpaces, etc) may in fact down load something called the "Zango Search Assistant” One such video, called "Friends play a hilarious practical joke," is current making its way through social-networking sites. Once downloaded your computer will be inundated with a a steady stream of pop-up ads forcing a severe slow down in computer performance.
Zango appears to be one of those “Scum of the earth companies” with absolutely not morals or scruples when it comes to making money. They make there money by partnering with webmasters who post videos on their sites. Zango pays the webmasters every time a visitor downloads the Zango Search Assistant using licensed code, and advertisers pay Zango for serving their ads.
While this may sound like a nice arrangement, but all involved don't benefit. In an MSN Spaces post from March, HanAnn4U2 suggested in her own way to steer clear of the search assistant. "Never download Zango," the poster wrote in her blog. "It really f**** up your computer."
Vishing
Creative thieves are now switching their efforts to "vishing," which uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones instead of a misdirected Web link to steal user information.
Because of education efforts to teach people about phishing, the criminal element has shifted from asking people to click on links to placing a phone call instead. Only the number isn't to a bank or credit card, it's to a VoIP phone that can recognize telephone keystrokes.
The thieves don't even use an e-mail blast, they use a war dial over a VoIP system to blanket an area. A recorded message tells the person receiving the call that their credit card has been breached and to "call the following (regional) phone number immediately."
What is really scary is that with the technology they can make the telephone number that appears on person’s call display look legitimate (like it came from a bank of numbers that had the prefex of a bank might use).
Oh, joy, another fine mess to worry about. What is really sad is that apparently VoIP providers could put a stop to this, but are more worried about signing up subscribers than investing the time and money to protect those same customers from this threat! Isn’t the free market a wonderful place.
The one catch phrase for all of the “TRUST NO ONE!” and that is a sad comment to end with.
PS – some material used in this post was taken from news stories sent out from Internetnews.com June 10 Why Bother Collecting The Points!It makes me wonder why I even bother collecting Areoplan reward points when you go to try and use them and can’t get a flight when you want! It is so frustrating that Air Canada puts so few seats on each flight for trips.
I’m planning to take my daughters to Hawaii and found out that not only would it cost 40,000 points to fly there (I could have swore I read somewhere that it was 25,000), but even though I’m six months in advance of the travel date, the flight on the day I want is not available, unless I want to go business class. HELLO! I don’t have 60,000 points and have someone else I want to PAY for and I ain’t payin for and can afford business class!
Then to add insult to injury – the Air Canada reps response – “Well if you could be a little more flexible”. ME BE FLEXIBLE – I’M THE FREAKIN CUSTOMER HERE! The basic definition of marketing is "Satisfy the customer's wants and needs, with the right product, at the right price, at the right place, when the customer wants to buy".
Now let me restate for Air Canada's benefit It's to satisfy the customer!
Now here is a revolutionary idea! Maybe Air Canada should become more flexible and opening up a few more seats on that flight to satisfy their customers!
And don’t give me that crap about me flying for free and they couldn’t afford to send the entire plane with too many points customers. If their accounting department is doing it’s job, then Air Canada has already accrued the expense (or cost) of the points on their books, and when I redeem them, it should be an accounting entry for them. If they are running so tight on cash flow that they can’t afford to satisfy the customer, then get rid of the rewards system, cause you are only pissing off customers!
AND be wary of the Air Miles rewards game. They are gathering an enormous amount of data on your every purchase and compiling that against demographic data to create a detailed buying profile for you. They will also categorize your potential spend and what you like to buy and sell those lists to Telemarketers who will then invade your privacy and bombard you with their junk offers. MAN I DO NOT LIKE HOW SOME COMPANIES / PEOPLE ABUSE MARKETING! Ops, sorry mom, I know that is what I do for a living, and I shouldn’t slag it in this forum, but the way some companies do it just makes my blood boil!
That is it for now, I’ll get off my soap box. It’s sunny but cool here today. Think I’ll head out for a motorcycle ride. May 31 Mobile Phones - The Scourge of Society!I don’t like mobile phones. Or rather I don’t like the way people use mobile phones. Yes, that is better stated.
Mobile phones – a great communication tool, which has unfortunately become and instrument of rudeness!
And mobile phones are everywhere and people seem to feel they can use them anywhere, at anytime and it doesn’t matter what else they are doing. When did a mundane conversation like “I don’t know…..what do you want to do?” become so earth shattering important that you have to have it while walking up a grocery store isle as you pick out a box of snack food. Oh wait! Those actually go together – it’s dumb and dumber!
Even on the beach of Hawaii, paradise in all its glory, people just couldn’t wait to talk to who knows. And trust me, from the snippets of conversations that were thrust upon me, the calls could have waited. And these people were obviously from the mainland. I could tell cause no Hawaiian had lily white skin like some of these honkies! So if you are on the island for a vacation, what is so important that you have to talk long distance about – imagine the colossal waste of money!
There was even one guy, doing a morning walk, talking to his office on the mainland. This floored me for two reason 1) cell phones are not that secure – your calls can be monitored & 2) if you are on vacation – leave the office on the mainland. If you are that critical to your company’s operation then you better NEVER LEAVE!
And talk about a waste of money! Did you know that the fastest growing revenue generator for mobile phone companies is downloaded ring tones! Oh great! Are people so vain that they need to have “I’m Too Sexy” play every time someone calls. Someone needs their ego stroked.
Don’t get me wrong – I have a mobile phone. “A Blackberry actually” (he said with egoistic pride dripping from his lips). But i have it more for emergencies or quick calls to get instructions, make plans or contact. The number of calls I make in any given month is less than 10 and I would be surprised if any of them are more than two minutes in length. Why people insist on talking about Aunt Betsy’s latest hemorrhoids or the latest celeberty gossip about someone they shouldn't care about is very strange.
What makes the need to have these calls so damn important. I could go on, but my blood pressure is rising and need to cool down. I'll add this to my list of “mysteries of life”.
May is over, I hope June is good to you! March 15 The Smoking Gun!I need to clarify one thing I wrote yesterday. I think Tom Cruise is a great actor, but that is a far as it goes. I still stand my assertion that he is whacked! One only has to look at the diversity of the movies he has acted in to tell he is a good actor. One only has to examine his believes and behaviour to determine he is whacked! Enough said!
There is a wonderful paradox about celebrities that I find intriguing. While there is a large segment of the population willing, no demanding, that celebrities be put on pedestals and who worship everything they do, say or endorse; there is another equally active segment of the population working just as hard to tear them down!
The American News Media is great for that. “Entertainment Tonight” will be expounding on everything Paris Hilton is doing, what she is wearing, who she is talking to, or about, while “Extra” may be trying to find ways to tear her down or apart!
www.thesmokinggun.com is an intriguing concept. Here is a site dedicated to destroying people by digging up what ever dirt they can on someone. If you appear at all on the public’s “celebrity radar screen”, The Smoking Gun will have some dirt on you. And the material they dig up is not stuff you would find by doing random searches with Google. No, someone is doing some real dirty investigation work to find this stuff out.
But why?
Why do we idolize someone, put them on a pedestal we’ve built for them, only to tear them down? I don’t get it. What am I missing?
I honestly do not have answers to these questions. But the fact that I am even prompted to ask these questions saddens me about the state of our society, it’s morale decay and the unthinking, lemming like behaviour of the brain dead masses!
I mean what is the state of society where something like the World Wrestling Entertainment can be a multi-billion dollar industry. I mean really people – what is the matter with that picture (and don’t give me any crap about it being entertainment – it is not!)
Wow, two rants this week – I better check to make sure I’m not taking too many cynical pills!
Till tomorrow! March 13 Not Another Rant!
Yeah, its been a while and I need to blow off some steam, so here we go!
I have some wonderful friends who forward all kinds of great stuff; funny jokes, wonderful sentimental thoughts, items that make you think or lift your spirits high. And I appreciate getting these – believe me I do.
BUT (yeah there is always a but – as a matter of fact, we all have one, which just sort of hangs around and follows you everywhere, but I digress). But why do they ruin the great thought by including those most irritating instructions (Nay demands!) to forward this to everyone in your address book, or some foul creature will infest you sock drawer.
“If you are my friend you will send this to everyone you know and cc me” If you send this to 50 people in the next 30 seconds you will get untold wealth and luck!”
GIVE ME A BREAK PEOPLE!
First of all, I am your friend and you should know that by virtue of the fact that a) I stay in contact with you and b) put up with all the junk you send through without complaining (well except here;))
As for the good luck ones, I am not superstitious and DO NOT believe you get luck from a four leaf clover or from kissing any stone! People make their own luck by doing good to others and then seeing it returned. I have been privileged to experience this often! Luck does not come from forwarding an email.
I do and will forward jokes and wonderful pieces of writing when they strike me as significant (or just funny). But I am very careful to strip out all of the guilt driven crap designed to get make you feel you have to forward it. If you like it and it impacts you, then feel free to share. But do not do it for any reason other than you want to!
The act of forwarding, because some email prompts you to is an email virus designed to play on the good and well meaning nature of people, but ultimately waste resources (and somehow giving some sick twit a sense of well being).
To prove I’m not a total sourpuss, here is something that a very good friend of mine sent me. She knows how much our friendship means to me (and I try to tell her that on a regular basis). This is a wonderfully written little piece that presents great wisdom on how to live one’s life.
Here are 21 rules for living a better a life.
ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE! . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone. Have a great day! |
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